The Ravens
by geea2
Summary: Spin off of The Breakfast Club. All characters present for quite an interesting day in detention. I OWN NOTHING.
1. Differences in Experiences

_Dear Principal Turner,_

_For one reason or another we've all been sentenced to a detention today and forced to do an assignment that you hoped would make us face who we really are so we can eventually be productive parts of society. As a result we have learned we are: a jock, a know-it-all, a brooder, a beauty queen, a bad boy, a nerd and a home wrecker. Thanks for the invitation to self-acceptance._

_Signed,_

_The Ravens_

The day: Saturday, January 22, 2007

The time: 8:52 am

The place: Tree Hill High Library

The reason: Principal Turner's Torture aka. Detention

A shiny silver Jaguar pulled in front of Tree Hill High School, a distinct difference from the school which was overcast and dark in the cold winter weather. In the back of the car Brooke Davis was listening to her mother, Victoria Davis, yell at her once again via her cell phone.

"What did I do to deserve such a ridiculous daughter? Listen to me young lady, you will go to detention and you will stay in school during the appropriate hours. Do you think I have time to listen to phone calls from erratic teachers? I don't want to hear about any of this ridiculousness again!"

Brooke silently closed her phone on the sudden dial tone. She sighed and lifted her Coach purse, "thank you, Maurice, pick me up at three in the afternoon."

The old driver nodded and, appropriately, didn't mention the fact that it was the first time Brooke's mother had called her in months.

00

Marvin McFadden listened as his mother tore him a new asshole. As if it wasn't enough that he was a loser with a social life that was nonexistent. He heard his little sister snickering in the back seat and wanted to turn around and throw her through the rear window.

"Are you listening to me, Marvin? Marvin? Why are you doing this to me? You better go do your time. I'm not paying for your college. You'd better stop this foolishness if you want scholarships!"  
"All right mom," he left while she was still in midsentence.

00

Nathan Scott glanced at the side mirror on his side of the car as his father stared him down. A blond girl with crazy curls was speed walking past the car, her hands stuffed in her pockets and a mean scowl firmly placed on her face.

"This will never happen again, Nathan," his father told him quietly, "never."

"It won't," he agreed, if he wanted to get away from his father it really couldn't.

"I'll be back at three, be ready for a workout."

00

Lucas groaned from his seat as he noticed Nathan Scott walking into the school. The last thing he needed on top of an early morning Saturday detention was to spend it with his half brother.

"Just so we're clear, Lucas Eugene Scott, you are grounded," his mother told him.

"Love ya, son," his step-father ruffled his hair like he did when he was a child and grinned.

Luke rolled his eyes and prepared to leave the warm car. His mother gave him a small nod, "see you at three. I love you."

"Love you too, mom," as he got out of the car and took a step a girl banged into him. She grinned up at him, her long blond hair flying in the harsh wind.

"Are you in for Turner's torture too," she asked.

He nodded and took a step forward, "yeah."

00

Principal Turner looked around at the group of kids in front of him and frowned as he began to read his attendance list, "Brooke Davis."

She rose her hazel eyes to meet his stare and arched one perfectly waxed eyebrow, "here."

"Jake Jagielski."

Suddenly the door behind him swung open. Jake Jagielski, a tall kid with dark hair and the body of an athlete walked through the door. He had a swagger and a grin on his face, "here."

"You're late Jagielski," Turner told him sternly.

Jake took a seat at one of the two last empty tables. Everyone else was sitting at their own table, "that's probably true."

"As usual you're asking for trouble Jagielski."

Jake grinned, "I court trouble. Maybe one day we'll have a run in."

Turner rolled his eyes, "Haley James."

"Here."

"Marvin McFadden."

"Here."

"Peyton Sawyer."

The girl with crazy curls glared at him, he took it to mean she was present.

"Lucas Scott."

"Here."

"Nathan Scott."

Nate rose his hand, "the real Scott is here."  
The tension in the room shifted and everyone turned to look at Luke. Turner sighed, this was going to be a long day.

"You're each in here for a good reason. You broke a rule, maybe you broke more than one. You're assignment for the day: each of you will write a few paragraphs about how you will change your behavior as it directly relates to your reason for being here, so you will turn into decent people in our society and community of Tree Hill. I'll be in my office next door and can hear every word you speak. For all of your sakes I suggest not speaking."

"That should be easy," Jake sneered sarcastically.

"You have a problem Jagielski? You're always trying to act so tough, trying to impress the masses. Maybe you should tell them why you're here today," Turner baited him.

Jake sat forward, looking deadly serious, "where are your manners today Turner?"  
"Don't mess with me," Turner warned, "I'll always be one up on you."

"Fuck this," Jake muttered.

Turner put a had to his ear, "what was that? A written invitation to next Saturdays detention? You got it Jagielski, anymore?"

"Temper, temper, wouldn't want to upset the hypertension," Jake continued on, he grinned, "that rhymed!"

"How about the next two Saturdays!"

Before Jake could open his mouth to reply Haley James, the small blond turned around in her seat, "just stop!"

He was surprised by her response and chose to take the out he was given. He conceded Turner's win in this battle, knowing there would be many more.

"Good," Turner nodded to himself, "you'd better get started on those papers. Remember I can hear every syllable!"

00

The group was sullen and quiet a for a time. Exactly twenty minutes had passed and yet it had seemed a lifetime. Brooke was silently filing her nails, Nathan was writing out plays on his paper, Luke was attempting to read a novel, Haley was doing her Chemistry homework, Marvin was going over complicated Physiological developments in gorillas with a strain of Rubella, Peyton was sketching an angry drawing and Jake was digging words into his table with a pocket knife.

Nathan looked over to Brooke. Out of everyone in the group at the library that morning she was the only one it was socially acceptable to talk to. And he wanted to talk, wanted to goad his half-brother into a perfect ditch where he could shit all over him, "Davis!"

Brooke looked over. He thought she looked gorgeous as usual. The people in their social circle never looked bad, especially Brooke. She was the female leader by far. The captain of the cheerleading squad, Miss Teen Magnolia, and rich, the perfect combinations. She tossed her long dark hair over her shoulder and moved her bangs to the side slightly, "yeah?"

"You going to Tim's party tonight," he asked.

She shrugged, "probably. Theresa and Bevin drag me to all of Dim's parties and then I end up wasted and in a game of I Never Ever."

Nathan chuckled, Brooke truly did have moments in I Never Ever that were classic, he looked toward Luke, "you should come."

When Lucas didn't bat an eyelash or even acknowledge that he had spoke Nathan moved his seat back and looked behind Brooke, "you hear me? I said you should come to Tim's party."

"Get off his sack," Jake muttered.

"This has nothing to do with you Jagielski," Nathan told him.

"Back off, Nathan," Peyton muttered.

Brooke pointed one perfectly manicured finger in her direction, "you don't get to speak!"

Haley looked around, the animosity was thick, "what is wrong with all of you people?"

"Stay out of it," Jake told her between clenched teeth.

"What's going on," Marvin wondered out loud.

"Do you think that finger matters to me," Peyton asked.

"It should. Don't think I won't kick your bony little-"

"Davis," Nathan cut her off.

"Let her speak," Lucas said, never taking his eyes off his book.

Everyone stopped for a moment. It was obvious that there was a common past between most of these people. How in the world were they going to get through the next six hours?


	2. A Journey Into The Common Gossip

Time: 9:37 am

After a five minute pause Marvin was still looking at all of them. He knew Jake Jagielski, well he had known him before the whole Nikki Smith-car accident-thing. Jake had been a fun loving, good guy with hopes and dreams. And then, as far as Marvin knew, in the middle of junior year, almost a year ago, he had gotten Nikki Smith pregnant. Everyone had loved Nikki, she was a part of the popular group that Jake had inhabited and was elected most likely to succeed in her class. It sparked a string of gossip in Tree Hill High. Nikki was a year older with a whole future in front of her, Jake had been a year younger with a basketball scholarship as his only means of escape from Tree Hill. Push come to shove, the story went that Jake was driving Nikki to a doctor's appointment in the middle of winter. They were arguing over whether or not to keep the baby. Jake wanted to give it up for adoption and Nikki wanted to keep it. Jake accidentally lost control of the wheel, or some people said purposefully, and slammed into a tree going thirty-five miles per hour. Nikki was killed instantly the baby along with her, Jake lived but his left leg was broken in three places. He'd never be able to play basketball again.

Marvin considered it a shame. He was an avid sports fan and watched all of the Raven's games. Jake had a lot of skill and with the right coaches could have easily done well in college ball. Instead he had retreated into himself, becoming a morbid, angry soul. A shell of the man he had once been.

As for the rest of them Lucas and Haley were in his English classes, which said something because he was highly advanced. He knew, as did the entire town, that Luke was the bastard eldest son of Dan Scott, the town mayor and biggest bastard Marvin had ever met in his short life. Still Luke was pretty normal. He helped his mom out at her diner, Karen's Café, and his step-father/uncle, Marvin tried not to dwell on that detail, at his mechanic shop. He seemed nice, but that was when Nathan wasn't dogging him. As for Haley, she might have been the only one he worried about beating him out of the valedictory spot his mother so coveted. A quiet soul with a knack for tutoring those that were unable to help themselves and the youngest of six siblings, a fact that he had learned from an English verbal essay.

And who didn't know Brooke, Peyton and Nathan? Brooke and Nathan were still the king and queen of Tree Hill High, though they were not actually an item. Nathan was his father's son, tough, cocky and damned good at basketball. Marvin had no doubts that one day he would go pro. However, he worried if Dan's constant pushing, which everyone knew about, would one day destroy Nathan's love of the game.

Brooke and Peyton were an exceptional story. Once best friends, now bitter enemies. No one knew the exact, intimate details of what occurred between the old friends of ten years but everyone knew the outline. Brooke had dated, and despite her reputation for being an ice queen, had loved Owen Rodriguez, star football corner back and basketball small forward. He had been two years ahead of them but had seemed as in love with Brooke as she was with him. Consequently Brooke found Peyton in bed with him, and she wasn't there to exchange pleasantries. A once unbreakable friendship fell to the ground and shattered along with Brooke's heart that night. Peyton had retreated, not unlike Jake, and Brooke had lashed out. Never had Marvin seen eyes as gorgeous as Brookes' and so dead at the exact same time.

"Why do you even speak to me if you hate my existence so damned much," Luke asked out of the blue.

Nathan turned and looked at Luke, "because you're a nobody. You're dirt under last years Jordan's."

"Then why waste your time," Luke sat forward.

"Because you're his brother," Peyton answered, still drawing angrily.

"He is not my brother," Nathan hissed.

Jake snickered, "right, having the same dad wouldn't make you related or anything."

"Jake," Brooke warned. It was hard for her to cut in but she had once known Jake, before Nikki Smith, and knew that he was lashing out to somehow keep the pain at bay. She understood where he was coming from.

"What, Brooke? You can't be bothered to talk to me in a little over nine months and suddenly I'm supposed to follow your demands like a puppy? I'm not one of your fans so back off!"

Nathan rose, "don't talk to her like that Jagielski. You know she's never done a damned thing to you."

"Are you her protector now," Jake asked rising, "you sure as fuck weren't there this time sophomore year."

"Jake," this time it was Peyton saying his name incredulously.

"What do you have to say, Peyton? You're just as bad as Nikki ever was," Jake continued.

"What did Nikki ever do to deserve your hate," Brooke wondered, "she loved you!"

Jake sneered at her, in her little designer clothes with her little designer bag, a replica of Nikki, "you wouldn't know love if it hit you over the head, or fucked your best friend."

Before Nathan could react, he was shocked at Jake's out burst, Luke rose and spun Jake around, "you'd better close you mouth or I'll make you get it wired shut."

"Mouth," Haley used his nickname, she'd heard his friend call him that once in class, "do something!"

So Marvin suddenly found himself trying to talk three very athletic men, all standing in a triangle, nose to nose, into talking out their differences.

"Guys, come on. Let's talk this out," Mouth begged.

Nathan chewed on his gum, a sneer in place, "I'll fuck you up, Jagielski. You know better."

"I know better then to what? Talk about the girl you never had the balls to be with," Jake told him low, so low Mouth had to strain to hear him.

Nathan clenched his fist, he felt the blood rushing to his brain but before he could throw a punch Lucas was in Jake's face, "get over yourself, Jake. You're not the only one to ever be screwed over by fate."

Jake's face, ever impassive, was for one moment a bit less patronizing and he must have recognized in Lucas pain. He nodded and stalked back to his seat, lifting his feet onto the table he grinned, "wanna take a little school trip?"

Nathan shook his head in disgust and dropped to his chair, "no."

Peyton looked up, "where?"

"Yeah, where," Haley, so happy that a fight had been avoided, wanted to help stifle any other urge to demonstrate the massive amounts of testosterone in these boys.

"Let's go," Jake led the way quietly out of the side door leading into one of Tree Hill High's smaller hallways Peyton, Haley and Mouth behind him.

Brooke rolled her eyes toward Nathan, "get going, Scott. Or, er, Scotts."

"Nope," Luke flat out wouldn't budge.

Nathan rose after a moment and followed. Brooke looked at Lucas, they stared at one another for a long moment, "come on, Scott."

"What's my name," at her look of confusion he continued, "my first name?"

"Lucas," Brooke told him.

Luke rose and nodded before following his brother. Brooke walked behind, silently closing the door behind her.

00

The school was set up to seem like a maze. One hallway closed off to a staircase that either went up or down, so at one end of the hallway there was a staircase up and at the other end a staircase down. The end of the shortened hallway that they snuck out of required them to walk to the right where the staircase up would be. Past Turner's office.

Slowly, Jake glanced into the office. Turner was picking his teeth while using a small hand mirror to watch his progress. He crept slowly one foot barely touching the floor before the other was creeping forward. He got by followed by Haley, Mouth and Peyton. Nathan went a few moments later and Brooke. But when Luke went to follow suit Haley, it being her first time that she had ever disobeyed a direct order chortled in delight. Luke froze and hopped backward.

Jake glanced into the office, this time very seriously. Turner was looking around, thinking that he heard some extraneous noise, before he decided it was a fluke and got back to the task at hand. Jake motioned with his hand for Luke to move forward quickly.

Luke hopped to the other side and barely made a peep, he was good on his feet, he stood straight took a deep breath and nodded at Jake, a silent plea for them to continue their journey.


	3. Author's Note

Hey ladies and gents! So my fic The Universe No One Understands has been nominated for Best Couple in Tree Hill for the annual One Tree Hill Awards. Go to the following link and vote for me if you think that my fic deserves it. I'm excited that something I've put so much effort into is being recognized. Thanks!

-Liz

h t t p : / / w w w . o n e t r e e h i l l a w a r d s . t h i s - p a r a d i s e . c o m /

remember not to include the spaces!


	4. Dig A Little Deeper

11:32am

"Where are we going," Haley whispered to Jake quietly as they entered the D-wing of the high school.

"Why are you still whispering," Peyton asked before Jake could respond. She was walking next to him though the distance could have been miles. Mouth watched the two of them float closer then further apart as if they were afraid to touch but afraid of being too far as well.

"We're going to my locker," Jake replied to Haley before turning his cold eyes onto Peyton, "and when did you become such a chatter box? Aren't you supposed to be dark and mopey?"

For one moment Haley saw a flash of something she recognized as pain in Peyton's blue eyes. Unfortunately before she could ask what that exchange was supposed mean Peyton turned fuming eyes behind her. Luke was walking behind Nathan and Brooke, who were walking together, talking quietly about something.

"Are you three coming or what? Damn, if you wanted to talk you should have stayed in the library," Peyton told them scathingly.

Brooke's eyes widened, "you're getting mighty brave Peyton Sawyer."

"I'm not scared of you Brooke Davis. Never have been, never will be."

Peyton stopped and Brooke went to her nose to nose. Haley shook her head in disbelief. Never in her life had she been surrounded by such pent up anger. Never in her wildest dreams could she ever imagine of being as angry as these people seemed. As if the spark from Brooke and Peyton's stare down had ignited their own war, Nathan turned to Luke, "this is your fault."

"Everything seems to be my fault, although I think that if you had a little more control of your girlfriend then this whole thing wouldn't have started," Luke responded in kind.

Brooke turned to Luke and she and Nathan said in the same startled voice, "we're not together!"

Mouth looked at Brooke and Nathan, then at Haley, and finally Jake, who was watching the whole scenario with a smirk on his face, "it doesn't sound like you're not together."

"Shut up," Brooke and Nathan replied, once again at the same time, without sparing a glance at Mouth.

"What, it can't be obvious to people outside of the popular crowd that your sexual tension is so ever present that everyone is in a constant state of acute nausea?"

Brooke pressed closer to Peyton after her sarcastic remark and said very low, and thus very scarily, "you're not the only one who can dish out details Peyton. Try me, just once to my face, try me. We'll see who walks out of this situation in tears."

"Okay, that's enough," Jake stepped forward before Peyton could test Brooke. He looked around calmly, too calmly, Mouth thought.

"Let's go get whatever we came out here for so we can get the hell out of the hallway," Luke persuaded them all.

Haley followed Jake but just knew that the four of them, Jake, Nathan, Brooke and Peyton knew some serious dirt about one another. Contrary to the general rules of high school none of them had divulged those secrets when their friendships had deteriorated. That was very interesting, Haley thought to herself, very, very interesting.

As they walked Haley tried to remember what she could about the fiasco of sophomore year, as many called it. First Jake had been in that crash and Nikki had been killed. There had been a twilight vigil and Haley had been surprised by the turnout. She didn't think more than ten people knew her in the whole school yet at Nikki's vigil every student and faculty member had shown up. She had caught of glimpse of Jake, shattered and alone, that night. He'd been in a cast up to his thigh in a wheelchair. And Nathan had been the supportive best friend, pushing him and had seemed to be a calming presence. Two weeks later the news broke that Peyton had slept with Brooke's boyfriend Owen. Their friendship had shattered the day after right on the quad in the oddest fashion. Brooke had stone walled Peyton. Peyton had walked toward her spot at the popular table and everyone had spaced out to allow no openings. Peyton had stood with her lunch tray until Brooke turned and faced her with one phrase, "fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice…" To Haley's knowledge they had never spoken again until today. But the rift between Nate and Jake, that was something different. Nathan had been trying to be a good friend after Nikki's death but Jake had pushed him away. But after today Haley believed something must have happened.

They finally stood in silence as Jake opened his locker. Inside of it was bare except for one picture turned so the back was facing the world. Haley wanted to turn it, she wanted to know what made this man tick, what made him so solitary. Before she could ask he was pulling a baggy out and putting it in his pocket.

Nathan stepped forward, "what is that shit man?"

"You've never seen weed before," Lucas asked.

Brooke looked at Lucas and seemed to assess him, "you have?"

"Don't be so fucking judgmental," Peyton told her scathingly.

"Fuck you," Brooke's quick reply.

"Hey," Jake got their attention, "we have to go back before lunch time."

Mouth nodded his asset. He had no clue what weed could do but he was more than willing to find out. Wouldn't that be the biggest fuck you to his mother!

OO

As they walked through the gym Haley noticed the peculiar silence that seemed to emanate from Peyton, Jake, Nathan and Brooke. Jake didn't look at the gym not even to glance at the hoops he had once touched on a daily basis. That was an old life. Peyton closed her eyes as she stepped over the laminated THS on the linoleum. She had once stood over the 'H' beside Brooke in every event that the cheerleaders had attended. Nathan's eyes held a wonder that seemed to show the little boy in him. There was still a deep affection for the game, Haley could tell. But then his eyes brushed the picture of Dan Scott on the wall and his face became grim, impenetrable, angry. Brooke looked at the seats and smiled just a bit. This was her world.

"Look at them," Haley murmured to Luke. When he didn't answer she looked at him and realized that his mind was on the hoop. The ticket to his dreams. His ticket out of Tree Hill.

OO

As they approached the stairs that would lead to the library level and thus Turner's office they heard a loud thud.

"Fuck," Lucas murmured.

"What was that," Peyton asked.

Before they could respond they looked up and saw Turned walking down. He spotted them and suddenly they were running. They ran back toward the gym but then Jake stopped.

"Why are you stopping," Haley asked, horror at being caught in the forefront of her mind.

"I can't run," Jake replied. Already his leg was throbbing painfully.

Nathan stepped forward, "I'll carry you, come on."

"I'll help," Peyton and Brooke responded instantly.

"No," Jake barked at them. Nathan backed off, shaking his head. Jake pulled Mouth close and shoved his bag of weed into his underwear, "don't lose my weed, it's the good shit! Now go!"

"Jake," Haley was certain Peyton was asking a question just saying his name.

He shook his head no and then motioned for them to go the opposite direct of Turner. After they had started off he made his way back to the gym. If he was going to get butchered it would be better off happening in there. The gym was like life itself. Unfair sometimes, beautiful other times, either way it was real. Sometimes too real.

He bounced a basketball, drawing Turner's attention. He hadn't touched a basketball in so long but his hands knew automatically what to do. He bounced it under one leg, he dribbled it and shot a perfect 3-pointer.

"Jagielski," Turner barked his name as walked into the gym. He was furious, Jake was certain. He almost grinned as he remembered how Turner would kiss his ass when he was a shoe in for helping to win the state championship. That ship had sailed and Jake would forever more be the bane of that man's existence, "what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I'm playing ball, man," he sunk the basket again.

"I don't know what you're game is but don't think for one moment that I will allow you to bring down those other students!"

"They're all big boys and girls. I'm sure they're capable of making their own mistakes, certainly without my permission," Jake replied with a sneer.

"Don't think that I don't get what's going on in your head. You messed up! You should have wrapped it up but you didn't and you got that poor girl killed. Add on your mangled leg and you've got yourself a lifetime of regret by age 17. You disgust me!"

Jake held the ball. He didn't want those words to affect him. He didn't want those words to be true. But the fact was he'd been a part of something he wasn't proud of and only one person alive on Earth knew the whole story. One person in the world and he had effectively destroyed any chance of ever having a friendship with him again. He didn't want to think about how he had fucked up.

"Are you done," Jake asked.

"Give me the ball Jagielski so I can drag your sorry butt back to the library," Turner demanded.

Jake grinned and gently rolled the ball on the ground. A small victory.

OO

After Jake had been hauled back to the library Turner had announced lunch and had allowed Nathan and Haley to go get the drinks for everyone. As the two of them walked there was a stifled silence until Haley finally couldn't hold in the questions anymore.

"So you and Brooke are an item then?"

Nathan grinned, "who says 'an item' anymore?"

"I suppose I do, but you're evading the question so I guess that answers it," Haley deduced.

There was another long silence before Nathan sighed, "Brooke and I have never gone out. I dated Peyton for a while before all the other bullshit, but me and Brooke never would have worked out."

"Why," she found that she was drawn to this drama.

He looked at her. He wasn't sure that he had ever seen her before. She was short, petite and had great hair but she just wasn't on his radar. Still, she had an aura about her that suggested that she was trustworthy. Besides, who would believe a word she said if she repeated anything? The gossip and rumors had all ready proven to be much worse than the truth.

"Because she was too cocky before and that wouldn't have mixed well with my arrogance. We know each other's pasts too well to. I've known her all of my life. And I guess when it comes down to it, we became great friends out of necessity and I don't think I could live without that friendship anymore."

"Out of necessity?"

"You didn't know," Nathan asked, surprised that the smart little blond hadn't realized the tie that bound them.

Her eyes widened in understanding, "you were dating Peyton when she slept with Owen?"

He nodded, "and even that I could have forgiven, because God knows I was no saint. That is until she screwed my best friend."


	5. I Can't Stay Away

Nathan unwrapped his one of his four ham and cheese sandwiches and smiled. Meal times were his favorite times of the day. He pulled out a few protein bars and almost drooled when he realized that his mother had packed a forbidden snack pack, this was heaven.

"Jeez," Mouth whistled as he watched Nathan unpack his lunch. The boy could eat. But then again all of the jocks ate half a cow during lunch. He knew that because after they ate they came over to torment him and his friends.

Brooke rolled her eyes, all of the guys she knew were going to die of heart attacks at the age of 30, judging by their diets. She pulled out her own sushi, specially delivered by her chauffer five minutes earlier. This was her favorite meal of all time.

"You're going to get mercury poisoning," Jake shook his head with a grin, "you and your sushi."

Haley sucked in a breath. Jake wasn't being malicious right now. His grin was purely boyish and Haley watched as Brooke responded. Her eyes, dull moments before, shined so brightly that Haley had no choice but to recognize why Brooke Davis was considered the most gorgeous girl in their school.

"One to talk, your favorite food is anything tempura," Brooke replied. Even her voice was different. Mouth had noticed the change as well. Haley noticed that the boy looked completely smitten.

Haley tried to remember what she could about Brooke. Nathan had said that he and she had forged a friendship out of necessity. But if memory served Brooke had never been a friend to anyone except Peyton. And when that had gone bad so had everything else. Brooke wasn't one of the cheerleaders who taunted other people but she was the cheerleader that could ignore you so well that half the time you believed that you didn't exist. She was pretty, there was no doubt, but her eyes were so cold and dead that she seemed like a statue frozen in time with no concept of human emotion.

"Does this have to be a chat session," Peyton asked.

Brooke's hazel eyes became dull again and her grin fell so quickly that Mouth wasn't quite certain it had ever been there. She huffed, "not if you insist on opening your mouth. Which we know you have a knack for!"

"Watch it," Peyton warned.

"Excuse me," Brooke turned back, "I'm in the wrong? Really?"

Peyton scowled, she didn't reply. The way Haley saw it was that Peyton really didn't have a right to say much. She had screwed over everyone in her life. Jake didn't have a best friend anymore. Brooke didn't have a boyfriend. Nathan didn't have a girlfriend or best friend. However Haley was reserving some judgments because there just seemed to be too many sides to this story.

Lucas quietly ate his cold slice of yesterday's pizza and tried not to stare at Peyton. She was gorgeous if not just a bit too self-absorbed. He knew a few things that he wished he didn't. He knew things that he only knew from quiet talks among administrators in his mother's café, secret conversations between Keith and his mom that had been given from Deb and from being a silent almost hidden part of the basketball team. He knew too well the situation. He looked at Brooke, gorgeous and so introverted, she just had a great mask. She'd been hurt but he couldn't help but wonder if she had set herself up for pain. She had only let in a few people and thus the chance for them to disappoint her had grown exponentially.

She was staring at her sushi now, apparently with a lost appetite. It seemed that Brooke had a similar effect on Peyton, who had stopped munching on her Captain Crunch. After a moment Luke leaned back and gently pushed Brooke's bangs behind her ear. She looked up, confusion and surprise in her eyes, but before she could speak Nathan was grasping Luke's wrist so tightly that it stung.

The look in his eyes told Luke more than anything else could have that his older brother by three months was deeply in love with this girl. Brooke looked Luke in the eyes and her expression changed from a deep dead to pleading. She loved him too. It was written all over her face. This wasn't the sexual attraction Peyton had spoken about in the hallway. This had advanced to something that surpassed all expectations. She turned to Nathan, "Nate, don't."

"Don't," Nathan told Luke. It wasn't his normal tone, it wasn't the normal look he gave Luke either. He was imploring. Nathan never showed such deep human emotion to Luke.

Jake finally cleared his throat, "Luke, he isn't playing, you keep fucking around and there will be a fight."

"I don't need you to speak for me Jagielski," Nathan reminded him, his voice back to normal as Luke lowered his hand.

The rest of lunch was a silent affair until Mouth asked his fateful question. It was innocent enough, he was just curious. He was a smart kid, it didn't take too much deductive reasoning to figure out that each person here had either been betrayed or had been the one to betray another. It also didn't take too much to assume by attitudes who had done what.

"So Peyton, why'd you sleep with Brooke's boyfriend when she was your best friend," Mouth asked. Everyone in the library turned to him in complete surprise and no one looked pleased by the question.

"I'm sorry," Peyton shoved her recently revealed ham sandwich away and turned cold blue eyes on Mouth, "could you repeat what you said?"

Mouth opened his mouth suddenly realizing that he had asked the wrong question and abruptly closed it. He looked around and realized that everyone looked very seriously pissed off.

Before he could issue an apology Brooke began to giggle and it turned into a huge laugh that softened every negative vibe in the room. Nathan couldn't quite hide a smirk and surprisingly he and Jake shared that moment. Haley laughed nervously under her breath and finally Peyton broke into a grin.

"Aw Christ," Brooke finally took a breath and smiled at Nathan. She shook her head and turned to Jake, "we gonna smoke that pot or what, Bud?"

Jake turned to Mouth, "still got my doobage?"

"Yeah," Mouth yanked it from his underwear and threw it to Jake. Jake snatched it from the air and sighed, this day was looking up.

XOXOXO

Jake smiled as he applied the final bit of moisture to his perfectly constructed joint. It was beautiful. He had never been one to smoke too often when he'd been playing basketball but since the accident he had found that weed was the only thing that could bring him back to good times. Or at least make him forget the bad times.

"Where can we smoke this," Brooke wondered out loud.

"Turner will be taking his normal afternoon nap until approximately 1:45, leaving us one hour. The vent by the South part of the library in the archives is broken and won't turn off, an excellent place to smoke," Jake told her.

Luke and Nathan shared a look. Despite the fact that they were swore mortal enemies as a result of their shared father, they could appreciate the insanity of what they were about to do.

XOXOXO

Haley look up at the tiled ceiling of the library's archives and howled with laughter. The swirls of colors were hilarious! She looked at Jake, who was going though her wallet. She only had 58 cents in there in terms of money. She giggled again.

"I feel that life is truly like a spaceship in the deep abyss of space. We're just floating man…floating," Mouth grinned at Jake.

Jake shook his head in consternation and laughed roughly, "you two are virgins aren't you?"

"Is it that obvious," Haley wondered, her fingers were tingling.

"I'll have you know Annie MacHarley let me tongue kiss her after I won first place in the regional science fair freshman year," Mouth replied.

"Shit, man," Jake laughed, "we need to get you laid."

Mouth laughed but he felt like he had a friend and it made him feel oddly somber.

XOXOXO

Luke watched as Brooke took a deep drag of her joint. Very slowly she released the smoke out through her nose and she seemed to savor it. Finally, she handed it to Luke, "you always seem very tense, I think you need this."

"You'd be tense if your team captain was out for your blood too," Luke replied as he accepted the joint.

She was silent for a moment as she looked over to Nathan and Peyton. They were both pacing, neither being interested in getting smoked up. He was worried about what his father had in store for him, she could sense it. That was how tightly they seemed to be bound. She just knew.

"He doesn't hate you, you know," Brooke told Luke. When Luke met her eyes she continued, "he hates that Dan won't let him move on. Dan has been living his dreams through Nathan for so long that he can't allow himself to imagine that you may advance in his sport without him being the force behind it. Nathan is so tired sometimes."

"That doesn't make his behavior right!"

"I'm not saying it does," she took the joint from Luke, "but I am saying that the intent may not be as clear to you as you think. Think about it Lucas, really think. Is Nathan trying to destroy you? Or is your little brother trying to protect you?"

XOXOXO

Brooke went to Nathan after he laid on the carpeted floor looking through the ceiling windows at the storm clouds outside. She leaned over him until her eyes were over his chin and gently blew the smoke out. His blue eyes flashed, she knew his body tensed, he breathed it in, breathed her in.

Her hazel eyes flashed as he took it in. She licked her bottom lip before gently biting it. His eyes fixated on her lip. She took another drag, blew it back to him. He took it in again and this time flashed her a smirk. Her womb clenched tightly and she gulped. He grew serious as he blew out. His eyes opened to her, whatever was in him, whatever his past, whatever his sins or demons, he trusted her with them.

"Brooke! Nathan!"

Hearing their names snapped them back to where they were, Brooke rose, "what, Bud," she asked Jake.

"Time to form the circle and smoke a little something I call the ultimate dutchess," Jake told them. The way he looked at them told Brooke and Nathan that he knew what was going on. Haley watched the three and then turned to Luke, who was silently sharing the rest of Mouth's joint with Peyton. This circle was going to get interesting very quickly and maybe she would leave it with some answers.


	6. Score One For The Dark Side

"So," Jake rolled the fat blunt between his fingers, moistening them with its sticky essence, "fruit cake, what in the world did you do to end up in this eight hour prison."

Mouth rolled his eyes, "I'm not your fruit cake, and for your information I'm here as a metaphysical experiment where I blend with the common miscreants and determine if the human has evolved so far that there aren't even common factors beyond the norm- eating, sleeping, pooping."

"What the hell," Nathan asked, squinting in concentration.

"That was a beautiful speech but I think we both know that it's bullshit," Jake commented and took the first hard pull. The smoke filled to the bases of his lungs and he held it until he thought he might just pass out. But he wouldn't cough, he'd taken the sensation, sometimes it was the only time he felt human.

Mouth looked around, he had never felt so hazing and heavy at the same time. Against his judgement, or maybe despite it, he found himself laying out all of his business to these people that he wished that he had never forgotten were not his friends.

"You know that fire drill we had on Thursday," he waited for anyone to respond and at Haley's curt nod he continued, "it was because of me."

"_You_ started a fire," Brooke asked, obviously disbelieving.

"There you go judging again, Brooke," Peyton told her, but the heat was gone.

"Not a fire," Haley sat forward, "there were cops here."

"Yeah, well, they found a 'weapon' in my locker."

"In _your_ locker," this time Peyton and Brooke spoke at the same time. They glanced at one another and promptly looked away.

"Yeah, my locker! And you know what it's just like you were thinking. A puny little pellet gun my Uncle Vick uses on his farm in Georgia. They took it and called the cops and made a huge fuss about it! What's worse is that I've had to stay home with my mother since. How could Turner know that was the worst punishment?"

"Wait," Lucas put up a hand and really looked at Mouth, "what were you doing with a gun man?"

Mouth seemed surprised he asked, "I don't know."

"Bullshit," Nathan pushed, "what the fuck were you planning to do?"

"I don't know! Get off of it," he snapped.

"You brought it up," Lucas reminded him.

He sucked on the blunt, coughed and finally look at each of them, "none of you understand the pressure I'm under. My mother is saying all the time 'Marvin, you'll never be anything if you aren't valedictorian. God knows I'm not giving you any of my hard earned money for college. A 99 what the hell happened that it's not 100?' So I thought to myself I'll take a wood shop class with Whitey and get an easy A. We had to build this bird house."

"Wasn't as easy as you thought it would be," Jake taunted.

"No," Mouth shook his head, his eyes big and painful, "no it wasn't. Mine had a little button, when you pushed it the door was supposed to open so you could put new bird feed in. Whitey pushed the button and…"

"And it didn't open," Peyton finished painfully.

"So I got an F so even if I ace everything else my average still will be a B and you," he looked at Haley, "will end up with the valedictory spot."

"So you decided to off her," Jake asked, Haley gasped.

"No," Nathan shook his head, "he decided to off himself."

Mouth rose, dropping the blunt which Peyton quickly picked up before it could burn the carpet, "it shouldn't be so hard to get a fucking grade and I shouldn't have to weigh my mother's affection by my average. She's an angry bitch who drinks gin and tonic before church! But no she has to have a perfect son because God forbid her image is tarnished by my B in wood working!"

"Dude," Nathan shook his head and glanced at Luke for a moment, "we can tell you something about fucked up, egomaniacal parents."

Luke nodded, "Dan Scott is Lucifer incarnate."

"Where I sit you're lucky the crazy son of a bitch is too interested in living through Nathan to mess with you," Jake commented.

Mouth sat, exhausted, "I don't think I wanted to hurt anyone or myself I think I just wanted her to see me. I just wanted to be known as someone other then the geek who never did anything. I hate being invisible, everyday at home, school, the community, I'm a ghost."

Peyton nodded, "I know how you feel. I'm a ghost too, and what's worse is that I'm numb. So I walk through the motions, day in and day out, but I haven't existed in longer than I remember."

"You need to get out of Tree Hill Peyt," Jake told her gently.

Haley gently pulled in on the blunt as she looked back and forth between Jake and Peyton. Brooke snorted and didn't look away when Peyton turned her glare toward her.

"What have you got to say Brooke," Peyton asked, her common sneer back in place.

"Brooke," Nathan and Jake tried to tame the coming storm obvious in her stance and eyes.

She raised her hand briefly to let them both know she wasn't backing down this time, "leaving Tree Hill won't help you Peyton. You could go across the country or across the ocean and it wouldn't make a difference. The moment you walk into a room people can sense the dark, disgusting, bitterness that tarnished your soul long before today. No matter where you go everything will be fucked up because you don't know how to function in a world where things can be bad but most of the time they're surprisingly good. You fuck up everything in your life. All by yourself. You're a one woman wrecking crew who leaves nothing but death and pain behind you."

Haley and Mouth gasped in shock. Haley couldn't believe how eloquently Brooke had described Peyton and how darkly she had painted her character. The only thing that surprised Haley more was the crack the reverberated through the room after Peyton's hand connected with Brooke's cheek.

Before Brooke could let out more than one battle cry Nathan had her wrapped in his arms, gently pressing the stinging side of her face into his chest. Luke restrained her in a sitting position. Peyton struggled until Jake finally went to her and turned her attention toward him by pulling her chin gently.

"Keep your hands to yourself Peyton Elizabeth Sawyer. You don't get to lash out because someone throws some truths at you or because they throw some taunts your way."

"You bitch," Brooke spat out against Nathan, her arms curled in between them, "you don't get to be so mad because I didn't fuck up Peyton. You fucked up. You fucked everything up!"

Peyton looked at the tight circle, wishing she wasn't so high, no way she would allow the tears to collect in her eyes if she were sober, "I didn't mean it."

Brooke choked, "you didn't mean it? You slept with my boyfriend Peyton!"

"You weren't in love with him anymore," Peyton pointed out.

"So? You never admitted that you were in love with Jake and I still knew that I would never go near him like that," Brooke spat at her.

"You love Jake," Haley asked.

Peyton bit her lower lip, shaking her head at Brooke, "everything was a mess and I knew it wasn't right but I was so angry. I'm not saying it was right Brooke, but he had been fucking around on you since day one and everyone in our group knew. And that was the night Nathan took you and Jake to South Carolina."

"So because you thought I would be gone and you knew we were breaking up, you thought to yourself that you'd fuck him for fun? Because you could?"

"No," Peyton pulled her tense fingers through her hair, "I did it because I knew that you two would break up and you'd be with Nathan, because really it's been destined. I knew you two would make it. I knew that Jake would never get over the trauma of losing Nikki even though she was shitty Brooke, really shitty. I knew that you'd win and as usual the better your life got the worse mine would be. I just couldn't stand the thought of being left out one more time."

Nathan pushed Brooke away gently to look in her eyes, "you were going to break up with Owen to be with me?"

Brooke's mouth opened but she couldn't seem to make words come out. Peyton huffed as Haley passed the blunt to Lucas, "Nathan you've been oblivious since day one. You were so wrapped up in Dan's shit and Luke showing up that you just lost sight of everyone else's shit."

"What happened," he asked.

"I can't," Brooke whispered.

"Damn it Brooke," Jake finally spoke again, "tell him."

"I will Brooke," Peyton warned, "one day you'll understand this is a gift because he should know what happened that night."

Before Peyton could speak again Brooke whispered, a choked, sad sound, "he hit me. Owen hit me."


	7. I Just Need A Second Chance

"…that night I found him and Peyton. I told him it was over. I had been ready to end things for so long but he had started to get more and more violent. Only Peyton and Jake knew. I guess in hindsight I've been so mad because Peyton, in her own shame, left me with him and he hit me. I couldn't meet you the way I had intended to the next day to tell you how I felt because I was a mess and to be honest I lost a lot of trust in a lot of people that night."

Nathan shook his head looking so confused that Haley's heart broke. All this pain over a missing puzzle piece that could have clarified so much. Nathan's blue gaze shot from Peyton to Brooke and landed on Jake, "how could you not tell me?"

"I wanted to man, but that was not my place then and it's not my place now," Jake told him.

Nathan rose, met Jake chest to chest, his eyes blazing, "I stood beside you when everyone came at you when Nikki died. I stood beside you when the doctors told you that you would never play basketball again. I stood bedside you when people called you names, when they whispered behind your back. I offered to walk you into rehab everyday and coach you through everything the physical therapist could throw at you. You were my best friend."

"So," Jake's arrogant sounding reply even had Lucas rising to help prevent whatever explosion was about to come from his younger brother.

"Don't do that," it surprised everyone that Peyton shoved her way between Jake and Nathan and pushed Jake back two steps. Her fiery gold curls had fallen out of its obstructive hair band and Haley could see the emotion straining through her body, "don't discount everything and everyone! I fucked up with my best friend, I lost myself. Explain it to him. Give yourself another chance you God damned, stupid, arrogant, ignorant…man!"

"Peyt," Nathan put his hands on her shoulders to stabilize her and then gently pushed her to his side, "this is between the two of us."

Haley realized in a rush what amazing friends the four of them must of have been before life had coldly thrown in a few curve balls. Brooke was sitting beside Lucas in her own thoughts seemingly lost in a past that no one else in the room had experienced firsthand. Her hand was cradling her cheek where Peyton had slapped her.

"Is this about not telling you about Owen being a truly evil bastard, not telling you that Brooke has been madly in love with you since the second grade, or kicking you the fuck out of my life?"

Nathan stepped back like Jake had sucker punched him. Lucas rose to Nathan's side, "he doesn't deserve that man."

No one looked as surprised at Luke's defense of Nathan then Nathan himself. For a brief moment there was understanding between the two brothers. Despite their differences, pain was something easily recognized between two parties no matter their pasts or prejudices.

"This is about you not telling me about Owen because we both could have been there to protect Brooke. But in the end that was Brooke's decision and can't be placed fully on you. This is about not helping me see that she's been the one there for me through it all; through every indignity that Dan ever threw at me. And yeah, I guess it's for you up and deciding without any input from me that this friendship was garbage and worth throwing away. This is about you being so wrapped up in your bullshit that you forgot who the fuck could help pull you through it. Be a little bitch Jake, that seems to be your prerogative these days, but don't forget for one second that I'm here in Tree Hill waiting to help pull your ass back into the light."

Mouth sat in his silence absorbing the brotherhood that held Jake and Nathan together even when they tried their hardest to pull it apart. Nathan had butchered Jake, it was written into every one of Jake's dark expressions, but had ended it saying that he would always be there for him. Six hours ago he hadn't been sure that any of these four kids had souls.

Finally Jake nodded curtly, for the first time that day he didn't have a come back, no arrogant statement that declared his lack of emotional attachments. Nathan nodded back and turned to Peyton, "Sawyer, you fucked up. Make it right."

Lucas sat beside Brooke again. Her knees were pulled to her chest now, her eyes remained dry exposing a strength deep within her.

"What did you do," Peyton suddenly asked Haley, not ready for the conversation that would have to occur with Brooke before it was all said and done.

Haley was taken aback, shocked that any of them even realized she was still present, she shook her head, "it's not important."

Jake took the dutch from Mouth and took a long, needed, drag, "come on man, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why Brookie, Peyt, or myself are here. Mouth fessed up, and the rest of us have uncovered all of our shit. Come on!"

She took a deep breath, "what's to tell? I'm just as capable of being bad as the rest of you!"

Everyone exchanged looks before the small room exploded in laughter. Haley looked around, affronted, "what? Seriously, I've been known to have a temper on occasion!"

"Be serious," Brooke whispered, "it couldn't be worse then this mess."

Haley looked down, looked back up, blushed and finally whispered, "I've had so many boring weekends lately. My family is so…all encompassing! You just can't get a word in edge wise, I have this huge English presentation, I want to research on a car I may buy before college-"

Luke interrupted her, "are you saying you just came here to study?"

Haley coughed, looked away and blushed harder, "you could say that, I suppose."

"Oh Jesus help me," Jake fell backward and rolled back and forth on his back laughing until he cried. Nathan did much the same on the other side of the room. Luke very politely looked everywhere except at her. Mouth took a long pull on the dutch before passing it to Peyton, who was ringing her hands together hard obviously trying not to laugh out loud. Only Brooke looked at her, silently contemplative, "what makes you tick Haley James?"

Her manner and the way she said her whole name made Haley nervous. Brooke Davis was looking into her soul and picking through it. Haley wrapped her arms around herself, "I don't know what you mean."

"Sure you do," Brooke sat forward, her hazel eyes drilling into the other girl, "what makes you get up every morning? What lulls you to sleep at night? What harasses you and what protects you? What makes you tick Haley James?"

"Singing," it was out before Haley could stop it. She blushed again, "I write songs and I sing them. When I sing, on the piano or the guitar, it makes no difference, the world rights itself and everything moves to the back of my mind. When I sing, I can fly."

Everyone was watching her, serious now. Brooke lowered her legs from her chest to Indian style and smiled, "so the question isn't why you would come here to study, you're a good student and going to get Mouth's valedictory spot, no one can question your intellectual capabilities. The question is why you aren't home doing the one thing you've found in this world that makes your existence make sense."

Haley couldn't find a reply anywhere in her arsenal of witty, smart-ass responses. She sat with her mouth open because suddenly she was stripped, bare and vulnerable in front of them all.

Nathan grinned roguishly at Haley, giving support with the small gesture, "she's more than you thought, isn't she?"

At Haley small nod, Peyton added quietly, "that's the thing about Brooke, she can play the game but you'll never catching her being the one who forgets that under all the masks we're all still living, breathing people who hurt and love."

Brooke and Peyton shared a look that Haley thought maybe, just maybe, might be the new beginning of their friendship.


	8. Make It Right

"What'd you do," Mouth asked this time. His high had finally settled into a warm, stable place that he was comfortable in. Lucas looked at him and grinned, "I got into a fight."

"You don't have to talk about this," Jake reminded Nathan, knowing instinctively that Luke and Nathan had fought despite not being present at the altercation.

"That's on him," Nathan's gaze didn't waver from Luke.

Luke returned the identical gaze and couldn't deny that they were brothers, connected by one evil man, "I went to my locker after lunch to find my books destroyed; torn apart and ripped into strips."

"Those poor books," Haley commiserated instantly, the horror of the situation written on her face.

"They meant a lot to me, which explains why they had to be destroyed," Luke continued to look at Nathan.

Nate had the good grace to look away. Somehow they had gotten to a new level and it just didn't feel right to put him down as he had before. Jake was looking at him with the silent gaze that told Nathan to be a man. Peyton was taking in the dutch and steadily avoiding this situation, not judging but unable to participate. Brooke, as always, was nodding him on. She stood by him steadfast in every situation but ran away from the feelings they created in one another. That was something he would rectify soon enough, it had been a long time coming.

"You have to understand that you showed up out of nowhere," Nathan winced at his poorly chosen words. That hadn't been how he had intended to start.

"I've lived in Tree Hill my entire life," Lucas argued.

"And in all of those years you've never played on one basketball team with me! I don't know if that was your decision or your mom's or dad's. All I know is that you walk onto varsity and expect that everything will fall into place."

"It's not like I'm after your position! I'd never be as good a shooting guard as you are, that's not where I can make the best of my skills!"

Nathan nodded, "I know. I guess that…it's just not fair."

"Isn't that my line," Lucas asked incredulously.

"Let him finish," Brooke murmured.

"How do I have this talent, the married parents, the money and end up so fucked up," Nathan looked at Lucas and for once was open enough for Lucas to see his genuine confusion, "and what's really crazy is that you're in the better position."

"What do you mean," Luke asked, obviously confused.

Peyton sat forward, "you're not like us. Nate can be cruel, Jake can be brutal, Brooke can be proud and selfish, and I am obsessively neurotic on my best day," she looked at Luke and for once he felt like this group of popular kids actually saw him, "you're better than us."

"I'm not trying to be better than anybody," Luke argued.

"I believe you," Jake told him.

"But," Luke questioned further fully expecting there to be more.

"I believe you," he repeated, "but don't act like this whole thing isn't a warped dance you're doing with Dan Scott. He pegged you and said you couldn't be a contender in basketball with Nathan. He said you couldn't be a man like Nathan. I think you're incensed with the need to prove Dan wrong so you'll feel validated. But what you don't realize is-"

Like magic Brooke finished Jake's sentence, "is that if you ever received that validation it would be empty. Harboring idle hope in a man like Dan is wasted time and energy. You have something that none of the four of us has, support and unparralled love from a fully focused parent."

"My mom pops so many pills that the drug store down the street from our house won't fill her prescriptions anymore. Brooke's parents haven't been to see her in months. Her mother only comments on her weight and she hasn't had a conversation with her father since the 7th grade. Jake's mom left his father for his best friend and his father hasn't found a way out of his depression since. Peyton's mom passed away years ago and her father is rarely home. Mouth's mom sounds like a fucking insensitive maniac. Haley sounds like she hasn't shown her true self to her family in longer then she can remember. Dan is evil reincarnate. Your mom works hard and is invested in everything you do. Uncle Keith has nurtured you like his own son," Nathan took a deep breath, "out of everyone in this room you're the one with the best chance of looking yourself in the mirror and liking what you see."

"You've been terrible," Luke murmured.

"Yeah," Nathan nodded, there was no point in denying it.

Luke took a deep breath, "why do you keep doing it then?"

"I guess because I've been," he paused, looked to Jake and Brooke for support without realizing it and continued after a curt nod from Jake and a wink from Brooke, "jealous. I've also been proud and I've brought that onto the court, the one place it doesn't belong because God help me if Dan Scott did nothing else he instilled a love for that damn game."

"We don't need to be friends Nathan but I know that if we worked as a team we could go to the championship game," Luke told him.

"I know," Nathan admitted.

XOXOXO

Surprisingly Jake had been right, the vents continued to pump and the room smelled as fresh as daisies when they left. There were just two short hours left in detention and everyone had split up into different sections of the library. Jake had uncovered a small radio and 90s hits were playing at a moderate volume.

Jake sat on one of the small couches next to the far wall enjoying his high when Nathan sat beside him. Neither of them said anything for a long moment. Finally Nathan sat back, getting comfortable, "you know you're my best friend. I don't really give a damn if you want that or not."

"Are we getting back together," Jake asked sarcastically.

Nathan snorted, "don't be a pussy man. You fucked up. Not with Nikki, with me."

"I know," he grew somber, "everyone was against me. Everyone thought it was my fault, even Brookie. Only you and Peyton knew that she'd fucked around. And even then only you knew the baby wasn't mine, but I swear to you that I would have raised that baby as my own. I never told her she should get an abortion. She wanted the abortion and when she was too far along she got angry and wanted to hurt me to make herself feel better."

"God bless the dead, but she was a crazy ass bitch," Nathan replied.

Jake sucked in a breath and let it out on a choked laughed. They sat laughing together for a long moment before Jake sat back, "I've been in a dark place, feeling guilty for her death and the baby."

"What happened with you and Peyton?"

"I was in a bad place because the specialist had just told me I wouldn't play again. I said things I didn't mean and she was sad so in typical Sawyer fashion she got stupid and she fucked Owen. Before I knew what she'd done she came to me and we slept together, that was the first and only time and it was also the time you caught us. You were coming to tell me that Brooke and Owen had broken up," Jake asked. When Nathan nodded he continued, "in one short week two friendships that started in the cradle ended."

"Not ended, just paused for a breather. Sometimes life throws you curveballs and you just need to take a breather," Nathan replied.

They sat together a moment longer before Brooke emerged across the room after leaving the bathroom. Jake studied the little brunette, "she begged me not to tell you and I begged her to let you in. She was scared then and she's scared now."

"I could never love Peyton like she deserved," he glanced at Jake, "the way you could. I hope I can convince Brooke that I can for her."

"You'll get through to her because you've spent a lifetime loving her," Jake replied. He grinned when Nathan rose without another word, walking purposefully toward one unsuspecting Brooke Davis.

Jake had barely had time to settle in to watch the fireworks about to go off when the cushion beside him moved. He didn't need to look to know Peyton had sat beside him. When they were in a room together his mind focused on her and her scent assaulted his senses like no one else's ever had.

"It's you Jake," she whispered, "it has always been you."

He felt her body shivered as he put his hand to the nape of her neck and gently massaged, "diddo."


End file.
